Playing apparatus



1940- P. J.- PLOUVIER PLAYING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 Filod Oct.1'0", 1939 y P. J. PLOUVIER 2,200,190

PLAYING APPARATUS Filid Oct. 17, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 7,1940' UNITED-STATES PATENT" or ies PLAYING APPARATUS Paul Joseph llouvler, Montrcnil-sous-Boia,

France Application October 17, 1939, Serial No. 299,885 In FranceOctober 14, 1938 9 Claims.

Playing apparatus are in use, and chiefly apparatus termed Americanbilliards, or games with balls, which serve, by the insertion of a coinor counter, to provide the player with one or more balls.

These balls are sent out, or put in the game, by a suitable device, andmove upon a fiat board which is usually stationary and inclined, andcomprises orifices or posts which form part of an electric .circuit.

The contact made by the ball or balls with the edges of theoritlces orwith the posts will close a circuit supplying a mechanical or anelectromechanical device adapted to actuate a counter If this totalshouldattain or exceed a minimum specified total, the player receives areward in the shape of counters which may be exchanged, or any otherobject, or may again use the game without laying any stake beforehand.

The present invention .has for its object to greatly increase thecommercial yield and the possibilities, both attractive and spectacular,of such apparatus or 01' all other playing apparatus.

Thus the invention relates to a playing apparatus with balls or thelike, which is chiefly characterized by the fact that it is so arrangedas to provide successively, with the same mechanisms and owing to asuitable selecting device, for several different games which can bechosen by the player, one by one, and at his will and choice.

These games may difier among themselves in various ways, as it willappear from the following description,

In the accompanying drawings, given solely by way of example:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus according to the invention.

Fig.2 is a diagram of the corresponding electric connections. 7

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modification in which, in addition tothe selection of the maxiwhich are mum number of faults and of thecontact-pieces which are not to be struck, it is possible to regulatethe amount of the movements which may be given to the board carrying thecontact-pieces.

In the embodiment represented in Fig. 1, the apparatus is of the knowntype comprising a case I whose upper transparent wall shows, through aglass plate, an inclined board 2 having four sets of electriccontact-pieces I, l, 8, O, the contact-pieces of the difierent seriesbeing in different number a coin at H.

or not, and having diflerent colours, for instance,

the guide 8, one or more successive balls 9 whichare supplied to theplayer by a known device In which is released by the insertion of acounter or The game is won when the ball or balls sent upon the boardmake contact with less than a specified total number of contact-piecesof one or more series which have been: prelimi narily chosen, and eachcontact constitutes a fault and is registered by the meter. The game maybe so arranged that the game shall be won as follows: I

In the case of the first series or rule of the game (with only the redcontact-pieces 3 in circuit) if the number of contact-pieces struck isless than three (which supposes the use of several balls, as the numberof contact-pieces 3 is for instance only two) (game I).

In the case of the second series or rule of the game (with the blue andred contact-pieces 3 and 4 in circuit), if the number of contact-piecesstruck is less than five, for instance (game 11) In the case of thethird series or rule of the game (with the red, blue and greencontactpieces 3, 4 and 5 in circuit) if the number of contact-piecesstruck is less than seven, for in- .stanceigame III).

pieces struck is less than nine, for instance (game These differentcombinations for the game can be chosen at will, by means of a selectingdevice S which is operated by a handle .l 2.

Moreover, the arrangement is such that if the game is won, the playerreceives a reward, or may play another game, as the device is free andwill serve to place another set of balls in the game.

At the upper part of the apparatus, several indicating plates aredisposed.

The lower, plate A shows, by luminous indicators l3 and It, thecombination or the rule of the game which is chosen by the selector SThe plate B consists of a certain number of two red contact-pieces 3,three blue contactsquares l5 corresponding to the maximum total numberof faults allowed. Each square corresponds to a fault, and each of thesesquares is provided with an electric lamp. The lamps will 8 light upsuccessively from one square to another, starting from the left,according to the faults. In the present embodiment, for convenience inthe drawings, the number of squares is supposed to be limited to ten,but it is evident that the i *apparatus may be arranged for tens,hundreds and even thousands of faults. In such case, lamps may only beprovided for tens or hundreds of faults, etc.

The juxtaposed plates C and D represent spec- 16 tacular designs of anykind, for instance a game of football at C or a bicycle race at D. Theseplates are provided with a certain number of lamps supplied by anauxiliary selector S with operating handle l6, which permits ofchoosing, 20 at will, any one of the plates, and by electric connectionssuch-that the corresponding plate will only be lighted when the game iswon or lost, according to the case.

In Fig. 2, the lamps of the plate B are shown 25 at L to L The plates 0and D comprise two sets of lamps 20, 2! and 22, 23.

To the left of Fig. 2 is represented the board 2, which is metallic andis insulated from earth, by a series of semcircles which are connectedtogether. The adjacent points represent the contact-pieces 3, 4, and 6,which are connected in four groups.

In the lower right-hand corner, above the plates C and D, is shown themechanism for starting the game. This mechanism comprises a channel I I,through which the player introduces his coin or counter 24. Below,thelower end of said channel II is located the mortise of a rod 25 forstarting the game, which has a square 40 section and is provided with aknob 26, and is slidable in the front wall of the case I (Fig. 1); itsrear end, when it is pushed in the direction of the arrow 1 releases, ina known manner, the

ball or balls 9 which have been kept in reserve The said pawl turns upona pivoted lever 29.

which is urged downwardly by a spring 30. The

50 said lever has a notch 3! in its lower face, in which is engaged, inthe idle position, the end of the armature 32 of an electro-magnet 33,and said armature is drawn back by a spring 34 when the electro-magnetis not excited.

55 The operation of this device is as follows. When no counter isengaged in the mortise of the rod or push-piece 25, this push-piececannot be driven in by bearing upon it, as the pawl 28 is engaged in thenotch 21. The end of the arma- 60 ture 32 is engaged in the notch 3!,against the action of the spring 34 which is now stretched. When theplayer inserts a counter 24 (or a coin), into the channel I I, this coinwill come into the mortise of the rod 25, and thus when the knob 26 ispressed, the said counter will act as a cam and will raise the pawl 28and the lever 29, against the action of the spring 30. release'the saidarmature 32, which now turns into theposition shown in Fig. 2 by theaction' of 70 the spring 34. In these conditions, and as long as theelectro-magnet 33 is not energized, the armature will hold the lever 29in the raised position, and the pawl 28 will move out of the way abovethe notch 21 of the push-piece. Thus un- 75 til the electro-magnet 33 isenergized, the said channel I l.

This will 3| of the lever 29, and thus allows this lever and the pawl 28to again descend by the action of the spring 30 into the position forlocking the rod 25, which can no longer be operated by the player unlesshe places another coin or counter in the The mechanism above describedis completed bythe strips 35,36, 31, 38, 39, 40 and 4| which form, fromtop to bottom, four switches a, b, c, d, actuated by the lever 29. Thesaid strips are combined with this lever in such way that when the leveris raised, the switches b and c are closed and the switches a and dopen, and the contrary is true when the said lever is lowered.

Above the lamps L is situated the counter for the faults. The saidcounter comprises a ratchet wheel 42, which is acted upon by theelectro-, magnet 44 used for the faults, by means of its .armature 43which is controlled by a spring. The wheel '42 carries a friction pieceor brush 46 adapted to make contact successively, according to therotation of the wheel, with contact pieces P to P 1 uniformlydistributed around the wheel and corresponding to the lamps L to 11 Thecontact-piece P is an additional contactpiece which is connectedto anelectro-magnet 46? adapted for setting back to zero, and its armature41, when attracted against the spring 48, releases a pawl 49 serving toretain the wheel 42 and normally applied against this wheel by a spring50.

It should be noted that the said counter is represented as having but asingle wheel, for the sake of convenience in the descriptionanddrawings, but it may comprise several stages, such as tens, hundreds,thousands, etc., and in this case the contact-pieces P will, be situatedin any desired manner.

From a mechanical point of view, Fig. 2 also shows the selectors S and SThe selector S comprises a rotatable shaft 5] 50 terminated by anoperating knob l2. To this shaft are keyed, in suitable angularpositions, nine earns 52 to 60.

The cam 52 comprises as many bossesas there are possible rules for thegames, I, II, III, IV, or 55 four in the present example. The said cam52 cooperateswith the movable strip of a switch e, and its angularposition is such that the said' switch 6 will be open when the selectorS has the position corresponding to any one of the four rules of thegame, but will be closed when the selector has any intermediateposition. A luminous device shows therule of the game which is chosen.

The twocams 53 and 54, termed selecting cams, 5 each cooperates with themovable strips of two selecting switches f g andh i, each of which isused with one of the groups of contact-pieces 3, 4, 5, 6. Theangular'position of the cams 53 and 54 is such that each switch, I, g,h, i, will be are associated with the lamps L, U, L", I) used forinstance for the limiting number of faults I will be open.

and terminal 12. When the ratchet wheel has The last two cams 88 and -88are combined with four switches, r, s, t, u, each of which is used forone of the games which can be selected, and in such way that only theswitch corresponding to the selected game will be closed.

As to the selector 8 its knob I8 actuates a shaft 8| to which are keyedtwo cams 82 and 83, each cooperating with two switches 11, w ands y, theswitches 12 and at being closed when the switches w and 1: are open, andinversely.

The whole device is completed by a plug contact 64 for alternatingcurrent, supplying a transformer 85 having two secondary windings withterminals 88, 81 and 88, 89. One of these windings supplies a rectifier18 in such way that the terminal 1| is a positive terminal anctthetermitive terminal 1| of the rectifier 18, the point 13, V

conductors 14 and 18 electro-magnet 48, conductor 18, the inner stripsof the switches f, a, h, 2', controlled by the cams 83 and 54,conductors 11 connected in parallel and connecting the outer strips ofsaid switches to the contact-pieces 3, 4, 5, 8, the plate 2, conductor18, point 19, conductors 88 and 8| leading to the negative terminal 12of the rectifier 18. It will be noted that the electro-magnet 45 isenergized by this circuit each time that aball 9 strikes one of thecontact-pieces 3, 4-, 5 or 8, for which the corresponding switch g, h ori is closed, 1. e. one of the selected contact-pieces. v

The circuit of the electro-magnet 48" for setting the counter at zero:This circuit is first 2'. The-armature 41 will hold the pawl 49 in thereleased'position, thus allowing the ratchet wheel 42 and its brush toreturn to the initialposition as at the start of the game. As thearmatur e 41 has beenattracted by .the electro-magnet 48, the switch 2will be closed, thus permanently maintaining the excitation of theelectro-magnet during'the retur'nof the ratchet wheel to zero throughthe following circuit: terminal 1I, conductor 14, electromagnet 48',contact-piece switches z and .2, point 82, conductor 83 resumed itszeroposition, a stop '42" acts upon the switch 2, which thus opens theexciting circuit of theelectro-magnet 48. The armature 41, which isbrought back by its spring 48, releases the retaining pawl 49, and theswitch 2' L" which do not correspond to the maximum number of admissiblefaults for the difl'erent rules of the game I, II, III, IV: the terminal81 of the secondary of the transformer, conductors 88, 84, brush 48,contact-pieces P to P in parallel, conductors 88 in parallel, lampbulbs,

tors 88 in parallel, lamp bulbs, conductors 89' in parallel, outerstrips of the switches in parallel n, r or o, a or p, t or q, u. Theinner strips of the switches n, o, p, q are connected in common, by aconductor 98, to the terminal 88, and thus when each switch is closed,the corresponding lamp or lamps will be lighted when the brush 48 comesupon the corresponding contactpiece P. The inner strips of the switchesr, s, t, u, are connected in common by a conductor 9| to the strip. 38of the switch a of the device for starting the game, the other strip 38being connected by the conductor 92 to the terminal 88 of thetransformer, and thus each lamp L L L or L can be supplied by theauxiliary circuit above described, when the brush 48 is upon thecorresponding contact-piece P, with the switch 1', s, t or u closed andthe switch a also closed.

The circuit of the electro-magnet 33 adapted for the.locking of thedevice for starting the game: the positive terminal H of the rectifier,-conductor 93, switch b, conductor 94, terminals of the electro-magnet33, conductor 95, point 98; after this point, the circuit of theelectro-magnet can be closed either by the switch e of the selector, thepoint 19, the conductor and the negative. terminal 12, or by theconductor 91, any one of the switches 1,70, 1, m, and any one of theconductors connected to thecontact-pieces P P P", P", that is, to thelamps L L L", L

The circuits for the plates C and D. The inner strips of the switches 12and w are connected by the conductor 99 to theterminal 81 of thetransformer; the outer strips, are connected to the lamps 28 and 22 ofthe plates by the conductors I88 and- IN, and the return to these lampsis effected in parallel bythe conductor I82 which is connected to theconductor 98 and to the terminal 88; as the cam 82 constantly closes oneor the other of the switches 12, w, the lamps 28 or 22 of the selectedplate C or D are thus constantly lighted. As concerns the lamps 2| and23, which will-only be lighted when the game is won, they have the samereturn to the-terminal 88 as the lamps 28 and 22, and are connected tothe outer strips of the switches a: and y by the conductors I83 and I83;the inner strips of these switches are connected in parallel by theconductor I84 to the strip' H of the switch at of the startingmechanism.

The lamps I88 (out of the game) and I88 (to be played again) have acommon terminal which is directly connected by the conductor 81 to theterminal 88 of the transformer. The second terminals of the lamps areconnected by the conductors I81 and- I88 respectively 'to the strips 4iI and 39 of the switches c and (Land the common strip ,48 for theseswitches is connected by the The operation of the apparatus is asfollows: 1. The player selects his indicating plate. 2. The playeroperates the selector SE, and if he has chosen the plate C, he bringsthis selector into the position represented. The lamps 20 of this plateare now lighted. I

3. The player operates the selector S and he.

chooses a rule of thegame, for instance the rule III, for which thecontact-pieces 3, 4, 5 are to be employed, the contact-piece 6 beingeliminated. The game is such that it is won if the number ofcontact-pieces struck by the balls is lessthan seven, according 'to theabove indications. Thus the player brings the pointer which is mountedon the knob I2 of the selector, in coincidence with a mark on the case Icorresponding to the chosen rule of the game. The selector will now havethe position herein represented. The cam 52 holds the switch e open, andthus the electro-magnet 83 cannot be directly energized by 19, 80, BI.The

cams 53 and 54 hold the switches .f, llv and i in.

the closed polsition, and their-outer strips are connected by theconductors 11 to the contactpieces 3, 4, 5. On the other hand, the cam54 holds the switch h in the open position, and its I outer strip isconnected to the contact-piecesi,

As concerns the plate A, the row corresponding to. the chosen game IIIis now lighted, by the use of one or more lamps whose circuit, notshown,

is automatically closed by the selector when it has the positioncorresponding to the game III.

The three aforesaid operations are performed before the insertion of thecoin or counter, and

the alternate lighting of these selections is effected by means of anintermediate lighting, for instance by a knob which is operated by theplayer.

4. The player inserts .a counter 24 into the channel I I, and thendrives in the push-piece 25.

From now on, as the game is in progress, it can-' not be changed; Thecounter 24 acts as a cam to raise the pawl 28 and the lever 29, which isnow held in the raised position by the armature 32, as above set forth.The switches b and c are a closed, and the switches a and d are open.

The player now sends out, one by one, the balls 9 with which he has beensupplied. When a ball strikes one of the contact-pieces 3, 4 or 5, thecircult of the electro-magnet 45 will now' be closed through one of theswitches f, g, i. If a ball should strike a contact-piece 6, this willhave no effect, as 'the switch It is open by the game III in question.Uponeach contact between a ball and one of the contact-pieces'3, 4, 5,i. e., fo'r-each-fault, according to rule, the wheel 42 of the counterwill move forward by one unit. Thus the brush; 48

will advance successively upon the contact-pieces P P P etc. Whenthebrush comes upon any one of the contact piec'esP P P, P, P P

the circuit of the corresponding lamp! L ,.L, L

L L L will be directly closed upon the terminals 66 and 61. When thebrush comes'upon the terminals P and P corresponding to'the maximumnumber of allowable farilts-forithe games I and II, these lamps will belighted, as

their circuits are closedupon the terminal '88 by the conductor, theclosed switches q or o, and the corresponding conductors 89.

If the total number of faults in the game should be less than seven, theplayer will receive a prize, or the whole will remain in the samecondition, and the player can commence another game. The lamp I06 (tobeplayed again") is lighted by the circuit comprising the terminal,conductor81, lamp I08, conductor I08, switch c, conductor I09, terminal61, and possibly a third game, but the time for the continuous use ofthe apparatus is limited to 2: minutes from the first start,-by means ofa suitable known mechanism.

During the first game or after n successive.

games, when the brush comes upon the contactpiece P" usedfor the lampL", the situationnow changes. In fact, at this time, the lampL" can-.

not be lighted, for the moment, by the circuit 88, the switch n and theconductor 90, as the switch n is open. But at the'same time, the circuitof the electro-magnet 88 is closed, through the circult: terminal 1I,conductor 83, closed switch b,

conductor 94, electro-magnet 88, conductor 95, point 98, conductor 91,closed switch 7, conductor 98, conductor 85, contact-piece L", brush 48,conductor 84, terminal 12. The electro-magnet 88 being energized, thearmature 82 is attracted, and the lever 29 drops together with its pawl28, thus definitively holding the push-piece which can now only beoperated by the insertion of another counter at II. I

Owing to the descent of the lever 29, the switches b and c are open, andthe switches a and d are closed. Due to the closing of the switch a, thelamp L is supplied by the circuit: terminal 61, lamp L", conductor 89,closed switch 1, conductor 9|, switch a, conductor 92,. terminal 88. Atthe same time, by means of the switch d, the lamp I05 out of the game issupplied, and the same is true for the lamps 2| of the plate C, by meansof the conductor I04, the switch: and the conductor I08. 1 It isrequired to employ two sets of switches (n, o, p, q) and (r, s, t, u,)owing to the fact that it is necessary to relieve the lamps L l'.l,- L'and L of the sumof the direct and alternating voltages which they wouldbe obliged to support it the circuits of these lamps were closeddirectly upon the terminal 68 in the same way as the circuits of theother lamps.

During a game, if the player should change the position of the selectorin order to choose a simpler game, he will then close the switch e, thussupplying-the electro-magnet 88 which will then lock the push-piece 25,thus preventing the player from making any new game or from receiving aprize, and this will actuate an indicator change the inclination of thisboard, for instance by. means .of' a handle III, a lever II2 turningupon a, stationary axle H8, and alink H4. The

pivoting of the-lever H2 and hence of the said board'l, is limited by astationary stop 5 and In this embodiment, it is supposed that the twoplates 0 and D are superposed. They are provided with a common screen II1, behind which number of contact pieces at least equal to the theauxiliary selector 8' can light either of the two groups of lamps, andthus either of the two designs can appear upon the said screen H'I.

Obviously, the invention is not limited to the embodiments hereindescribed and represented, which are given solely by way of example. Theapparatus have been described on the supposition that the contacts arefaults, but it might be supposed that each contact represents a score,and in this case the game could not be againplayed unless the playershould make a minimum number of scores. In this case, the push-piece canbe normally loekedai'ter it is first released by the counter, and it canonly be again released by energizing the electro-magnet-33, which willnow represent an electro-magnet for release and not for locking, as inthe apparatus above described.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A game apparatus comprising a metallic plate, a plurality of groupsof electric contact members mounted on said plate and insulated withrelation to said plate, the contact members oieach group beingelectrically connected together, movable elements of conductive materialadapted to be moved on said plate and to be brought into contact withany one of said electric contact members, whereby said contact member iselectrically connected with said plate, a source of current, for eachgroup of contact members a selective switch having one terminalconnected with its corresponding group of contact members, the otherterminals of said switches being connected together and said switchesbeing adapted to be opened and closed selectively, electric connectingmeans between said source of current and said plate and between saidsource of current and said other terminals of said switches, andindicating means interposed in said connecting means and adapted to beoperated by the current circulating in said connecting means.

2. A game apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a rotatableshaft and cams on said shaft adapted to close and to open selectivelysaid switches separately and in combinations when said shaft is rotated.

3. A game apparatus comprising a metallic plate, a plurality of groupsof electric contact members mounted on said plate and insulated,

of current, for each group of contact membersv a selective switch havingone terminal connected with its corresponding group of contact members,the other terminals of said switches being connected together and saidswitches being adapted to be opened and closed selectively, electricconnecting means between said source of current and said plate andbetween said source of current and said other terminals of saidswitches, an electromagnet interposed in said connecting means andprovided with an armature adapted to be moved towards and away from saidelectromagnet, a number of indicating devices adapted to be operated byan electric current and each provided, with two terminals for electriccurrent, a multipleway switch comprising a movable member adapted to beoperated by said armature oi. said electromagnetand a number ofindicating devices and adapted to be engaged successively by saidmovable member, each, contact piece corresponding to and being connectedwith one terminal 01' one indicating device, the other terminals of saidindicating devices being connected together, and electric currentsupplying means adapted to be connected on one side with said movablemember and on the other side with said other terminals of saidindicating devices.

. part of said indicating devices and the common connecting point of theterminals of all said indicating devices auxiliary switches adapted tobe selectively opened and closed.

5. A game apparatus according to claim 3 further comprising an operatingmember provided with a notch and adapted to assume two extremepositions, the one in which access is given to said movable elements andthe other in which said movable elements are not accessible, a springpressed pivoted lever provided with a recess and carrying a pawl adaptedto engage said notch in said operating member and to maintain saidmember in the position corresponding to said movable elements being notaccessible, means adapted to cooperate with said operating member and toremove said pawl from said notch and to move said pivoted lever awayfrom said operating member, electromagnetic means provided with a springpressed armature adapted in one position to engage said recess'in saidlever and to permit said pawl of engaging said v rent and said movablemember of said multiple way switch, whereby said electromagnetic meansis energized when said movable member of said multiple way switch hasbeen moved on a contact piece corresponding to a closed controllingswitch and causes said pivoted lever to move and to bring said pawl inengagement with said notch in said operating member.

6. A game apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising an operatingmember provided with a notch and adapted to assume two extremepositions, the one in which access is given to said movable elements andthe other in which said movable elements are not accessible, a springpressed pivoted lever provided with a recess and carrying a pawl adaptedto engage said notch in said operating member and to maintain saidmember in the position corresponding to said movable elements being notaccessible, means adapted to cooperate with said operating member and toremove said pawl from said notch "and to move said pivoted lever awayfrom said operating member, electromagnetic means provided with a springpressed armature adapted in oneposition to engage said recess in saidlever and to permit said pawl of engaging said notch and in the otherposition to serve as a stop for said pivoted lever and to maintain saidpawl out of engagement with said notch, a rotatable shaft and cams onsaid shaft adapted to close and to open selectively said switchesseparately and in combinations when said shaft is rotated, a controllingswitch connected with said electromagnetic means, electric connectionsbetween one terminal of said source of current and said electromagneticmeans and between the other terminal of'said source of current and saidcontrolling switch, and a further cam on said shaft adapted to open saidcontrolling switch-when one at least of said selective switches isclosed and to close .said controlling switch when said selectiveswitches are open, whereby said operating member is locked 'by said pawlwhen said shaft is rotated from one position in which atleast one,selective switch is closed towards another position.

7. A game apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a luminousb'oardcarrying different spectacular designs, and electric means forilluminating said designs selectively. v

8. A game apparatus according to claim 1, in

which said metallic plate is pivotally mounted and may assume differentinclined positions.

' 9. A game apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising anadditional eiectromagnet provided with an armature, an additionalcontact piece on said multiple way switch connected with said additionalel'ectromagnet, arresting means adapted in their operative position toprevent said movable member of said multiple way switch from movingbackwards, and .means actuated by said armature and adapted to bringsaidarresting means in theirinoperative position'and to release saidmovable" member.

' PAUL JOSEPH Prom,

